


Siren Song

by azhdarchidaen



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Asexual Character, Asexual Grunkle Ford, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-28
Updated: 2016-07-28
Packaged: 2018-07-27 09:18:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,740
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7612489
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/azhdarchidaen/pseuds/azhdarchidaen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Strange noises in the Arctic night attract the attention of both brothers, but when the calm, starry evening becomes a rescue mission, the question is posed: are they hearing the same thing?</p><p>(written for the prompt "Stan gets lured off the ship by sirens or some similar creatures. Ford is immune to them because he’s ace as hell. Protective Ford has to save him"; cross-posted from tumblr)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Siren Song

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Русский available: [Песнь сирен](https://archiveofourown.org/works/10635537) by [Rainy_Elliot](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rainy_Elliot/pseuds/Rainy_Elliot)



The sleepy lull of evening was just beginning to set in, a few wispy clouds the only obstacle to seeing the star-studded sky coming into visibility. Aside from that, though, the open expanse stretched onwards with incredible clarity.

 _Tonight would be a good night to pull out the telescope,_ Ford found himself thinking.

Though still looking skywards, he could tell from the soft huffing noise and puff of frosted breath that snuck into his field of vision on the left that Stanley had come out on deck and settled next to him.

“You thinkin’ about something?” came his voice.

“I think I might go and fetch the astronomical gear,” Ford said, turning to look at his brother. “The skies are astonishingly clear tonight, and we’re far enough from shore that if we dim our own lights a bit the view should be spectacular. If you’d care to join me—“

“—You seriously asking me to look at the stars with you?” Stanley said, a teasing grin on his face, “That’s pretty sappy, Poindexter.”

He rolled his eyes. “I forgot, you eschew all possible trappings of sentimentality for the sake of responding like a third grader. But the offer is extended regardless,” he said.

“Nah, I’m kidding. I’d love to. It’s… been a while.”

Ford could only assume his own face softened similarly to Stanley’s, one of those moments where a shared memory they’d both spent years the last 40 years burying bubbled up and this time, finally, made them smile. Even without asking, he had a sneaking suspicion it was of late summer nights spent lying on the beach – Ford pulling out a pocket constellation guide to identify what they saw above them, and Stanley making up his own whenever one got pointed out because he could _“come up with better stories than those stuffy old Greeks anyway”_ and _“that looks **nothin’** like a dolphin in the first place!”_

“We’ve got a better view out here than we ever had back home,” Ford said, pulling them both from the recollection.

“You want me to go get the stuff?” Stanley offered.

“No, it’s alright. I’d like to grab one of my notebooks as well. I’ll be right back.”

His brother shrugged. “Suit yourself. I’ll hold down the fort.”

 

* * *

 

It was only a minute or so after being left alone on deck that Stan first heard the sound, echoing off the open ocean and into his own head with piercingly eerie clarity. It was music, but not really music he could put a name to – it felt like it had lyrics, but not in an understandable language; there were no instruments, and yet it had a quality to it that couldn’t be carried by anyone’s voice. 

At first the sound gave him the chills, or at least, he shivered in a way that he didn’t think he could attribute to even the Arctic air. But after a brief period of discomfort with the song, but it didn’t take too long until he came to accept it as more relaxing than anything else.

 _“[Hello, Stanley!]”_ the voices said.

That was about the point that he decided there actually _were_ voices.

_“[We love you, Stanley!]”_

And _that_ was about the point where he decided he liked ‘em.

“Hey there! Who’s out there?” he called, wanting to know who this clearly excellent person – or people – might be.

_“[Babes, Stanley!]”_

_“[Come say ‘hi’ to us, Stanley!]”_

“I’m… pretty sure I already did that,” he said, momentarily confused.

_“[Come say ‘hi’ to us, Stanley!]”_

“Are you… where are you?”

_“[In the ocean, Stanley!]”_

Okay so that part was a little weird. But you know, ocean babes could totally be a thing. Actually now that he thought about it, they definitely  _should_ be a thing – the kind of thing they’d have seen already. How many stories were there about merpeople? How come when Ford was talking about all the stuff they might see in a day, never mentioned ocean babes? It was always “angry kraken” this and “horrifying sea serpet” that. Some paranormal expert – he needed to get his priorities in order.

“That is a completely reasonable suggestion!” he yelled back, a little something in the back of his brain suggestion back that no, no it actually wasn’t. But he ignored it.

It was time to go say hi to some ocean babes.

 

* * *

 

“My apologies, Stanley,” Ford said as he stepped through the cabin door and back on deck, “For a moment, I couldn’t recall which of my notebooks had the information on—“

He stopped, looking up as he heard a loud “splash” off the starboard side.

“…Stanley?”

The minute there was no response, Ford raced to peer over the railing, leaving the scientific equipment he brought up with him behind and suddenly very, very concerned.

“Stanley!” he shouted, his uneasy suspicions confirmed as he noticed his brother bobbing in the water. He’d fallen overboard? Why?

Before Ford could so much as speculate – or perhaps more likely, panic – there was a strange, fuzzy feeling in his head, and something that sounded like a voice saying…

_“[Juhhwlqjv, Vwdqirug!]”_

“…Pardon?” he said quirking an eyebrow and looking around the deck for the speaker. He took about two seconds to do so before deciding he didn’t have time for this – he had to save his brother.

_“[Zh vdlg, juhhwlqjv, Vwdqirug!]”_

“Sorry, I didn’t catch that,” Ford muttered as he grabbed a flotation device from the deck and weighed whether his best option was to toss it. He hadn’t stopped to see if Stanley was injured, or otherwise incapacitated by the shock of the cold water. Either could mean he’d have to dive in and grab him himself.

_“[Grq’w brx zdqw wr olvwhq wr xv, Vwdqirug?]”_

_“[Duhq’w brx wluhg, Vwdqirug?]”_

“Would you stop that?” he barked, frustrated. Why wouldn’t the strange buzzing go away? Especially now when focus was of the utmost important, the last thing he needed was voices from the sea trying to– 

“…Sirens?” he breathed. It would certainly explain how his brother ended up in the water in the first place, even if the manifestation of them he was experiencing of them was a bit abnormal.

_“[Rk qr, kh’v rqwr xv.]”_

_“[Kxvk, brx’uh vhhlqj wklv jxb’v khdg. Zh fdq xvh wklv – Bhdk, grq’w brx zdqw wr frph vhh vrph vluhqv, Vwdqirug?]”_

_“[Bhdk, khb Vwdqirug duh brx pdgh ri Frsshu dqg Whooxulxp ehfdxvh brx duh–]”_

Ford’s mind raced at the increased chatter – there must be several of them. And if they were discussing something…

“Stanley!” he shouted again. “Stanley, can you hear me?”

When his plea received no response, he gritted his teeth in grim resolve. There was only one thing to do here. If the siren hypothesis was correct, Stanley wasn’t coming back of his own volition. But he needed to get him back on the ship, and quickly. Even if these sirens weren’t of the drown-their-victims sort, the real danger in Arctic seas wasn’t failing to tread water – it was the temperature of the water itself. If he didn’t get his brother back on deck soon…

Ford shuddered, mostly at the morbid thought. He was going to have to take the plunge.

He grabbed the flotation device, tucking it carefully at his side, took a deep breath, and attempted the most graceful swan-dive he could accomplish with the use of only one arm.

It wasn’t very graceful.

The shock of the icy water had him gasping the minute he hit the waves, and Ford struggled to keep his grip on the object he’d brought with him. He’d expected the sea to be cold, of course, but actually feeling the ocean sap his warmth was something beyond the realm of speculation. 

…But on the same note, he was the one who’d been in it for a briefer amount of time. The rush of adrenaline he got from thinking about the scenario at hand cleared his head quickly enough – he had to get to Stanley.

Ford gave a powerful kick to build up momentum in the water, his swimming slightly hindered by the awkwardness of carrying something as he swam. Briefly, he considered abandoning the thing and simply gunning it towards his brother, but he was put off by the thought of reaching him and regretting it – if he didn’t get there fast enough, Stanley would just be another dead weight he couldn’t deal with. To say nothing of how much strength of his own would remain by that point.

Tightening his grip instead, he moved forward. He wasn’t sure if it was a good sign or a bad sign when the buzzing returned.

_“[Vhh, qrz zh’yh jrw klp]”_

_“[Lw zdv ghilqlwhob wkh shulrglf wdeoh olqh…]”_

On the one hand, these creatures probably wanted at least one of them dead… on the other, it probably meant he was getting close. Sure enough, it wasn’t long before four figures appeared in his field of view. One of them was Stanley, whose eyes Ford was relieved to see were still open, if strangely glassy with what was probably the sheen of the sirens’ hypnotism – but the others were something else entirely.

They rested on a rocky little outcropping in the middle of the waves – which Ford grabbed hold of immediately in an attempt to conserve his energy; no need to waste it treading water – their dappled tail patterns resembling common harbor seals ( _an Arctic variant?_ ) and morphing into vaguely humanoid torsos and faces. But where a human would have had more recognizable features, theirs were markedly distinct – fanged mouths, similar dapples scattered across their faces like massive freckles, and glowing red eyes. One of them clutched his brother in appendages that were half hand, about a third claw, and the remaining, more complex calculation of a fraction, flipper. (Give or take – one could only be so precise in a crisis.)

“I’m here to take him back,” he said angrily, pointing at Stanley as best he could with the arm still securing the life preserver. Well, “said” was generous. It was really more “spluttered” because as he did so a crashing wave dashed against the rocks and he tasted seawater. But hopefully it had still had some dramatic effect.

_“[Kh’v khuh, exw kh’v qrw kbsqrwlchg!]”_

One of the figures hissed something, confirming his voice as one of the the sources of the buzzing. The siren looked over to the one holding Stanley, making what appeared to be gestures between the two brothers.

The siren not involved in the apparent conversation lunged at Ford before he could properly react, hissing through her fangs. He let go of the outcropping to defend himself, dismayed when she knocked them both a solid several feet backwards in the water.

She buzzed at him angrily. _“[ _Brx duh frqixvlqj!_ Brx duh frqixvlqj!]”_

In the midst of the fit of hissing, Ford collected himself enough to land a solid punch in her slippery face. She screeched back at him, claws extended towards his face, and Ford ducked underwater to avoid her entirely.

It was hard to stay on top of the flotation device he’d brough along and clung to desperately under the water, but somehow he managed to propel himself underneath the creature, popping up back against the outcropping the others were resting on. Just in time, it seemed, because as he gasped and opened stinging eyes Ford realized his fingers were so numb he couldn’t quite grasp it properly anymore. He gritted his teeth once more, refusing to succumb to the chill just yet – not when Stanley was still in danger. He flung himself up on the rocks, wincing slightly at the impact. He was a slightly too frozen – and distracted – to take notice of any other possible damage.

“Give… him… back…” he growled, hating the shiver in his voice. The other siren with her appendages free hissed back at him and swiped her claws in Ford’s direction, but he managed to bring one hand up to intercept the action before she made impact. He yanked her towards him and she got dashed on the rocks instead.

She started hissing to her companions the minute she regained her senses.

_“[Wkhb'uh qrw zruwk wklv! Zh grq'w iljkw suhb, zh oxuh lw. Vrphwklqj'v zurqj khuh, zh fdq ilqg dqrwkhu phdo…]”_

Only moments after the sound stopped, the one holding Stanley released him, and the three creatures vanished into the sea.

 _Atypical predatory behavior… it’s entirely possible they’re not accustomed to any sort of resistance,_  Ford found himself thinking in spite of the circumstances. He’d been expecting to have to incapacitate them all – and had been dreading the thought. 

_Fascinating._

He couldn’t spare any time to contemplate it though, as the seriousness of his and his brother’s condition was beginning to set in. Stanley was now already unconscious from the chill, as he’d feared, and though Ford hated to admit it, if he spent much more time in the Arctic water, he’d soon follow suit.

It was with numb and shaking fingers that he managed to get the flotation device under them both and slowly kick off from the outcropping, without nearly the energy of before. The boat wasn’t anchored that far away… if he could just get them to the ladder and onboard…  if he could make it…

….if…. if he could just……

 

* * *

 

Stan’s eyes pried open slowly, and the sudden shock of his surroundings sent his head reeling. The last thing he remembered was being on the deck of the ship, but here he was, in the cabin, covered in blankets – and suddenly wearing a sweater that he definitely hadn’t had on before. A quick glance to his right revealed Ford, similarly piled under two entire quilts, and looking like he was half-asleep but fighting it badly. The minute Stan shifted slightly, he shot awake.

“Stanley!” he said. “You’re alright!”

“Any… uh… reason I’m not supposed to be? What’s going on here?”

“You were lured into the sea by a trio of sirens, as far as I can tell,” Ford said “I managed to get you back on the boat, as well as into dry things, but given that both of us are still recovering our core body temperature at the moment I’d say that yes, there’s reason to say you’re not ‘supposed’ to be.”

“Lured into… Ford, are you saying I took a dive in the water we saw _icebergs_ in earlier today and I don’t remember any of it?”

“They had you in a hypnotic trance, that’s actually really to be expect—“

“—And you dove in _after_ me?”

“…I’ll concede that might have been a slight lapse of judgement on my part, yes. I’m sure if I’d had the time I could have come up with a better solution but ‘time’ wasn’t exactly on my—well really, _our_ —“

Stan pulled his arms out from under the blankets to wrap his brother in a tight hug, Ford’s only response a surprised “oof” for a second before he returned the embrace.

“So, how come those things didn’t hypnotize you too, huh?” Stan said curiously as he pulled away, “You teach yourself some kind of special monster resistance or somethin’?”

Ford’s face screwed up in confusion, as if he’d only just thought to question it himself.

“Well, from what I understand sirens can sense the inner thoughts of their prey and attempt to appeal to them personally,” he said. “It’s not just the song that draws them into the sea, it’s being able to listen.”

“And you didn’t hear anything?”

His brother looked thoughtful for a moment. “Well, nothing I could understand,” he said.

“…Maybe my mythology’s not so good but don’t they just… seduce?”

“I mean, I obviously don’t know from _experience_ , but in the literature I’ve read…” he trailed off, clearly contemplating the idea.

“…Ford, do you realize how much of high school that would explain?”

He laughed a little awkwardly. “Not just high school, I assure you.”

“Hell, whatever the case, I’m just glad it means you had my back out there,” Stan said, and Ford gave him a shy smile. “Seriously though, that could have gotten nasty. And I’m sorry if it ruined your plans for the evening, on top of everything else.”

Ford waved a hand. “There’ll be other nights for stargazing, I’m sure. Seeing as I think we could both use the warmth, I was thinking of changing tonight’s plan to ‘holing up in here with hot chocolate’ or something similar.”

“Still sounds great to me.”

**Author's Note:**

> lovely fanart for this story was drawn by @bannerenthusiast on tumblr: 
> 
> http://bannerenthusiast.tumblr.com/post/141012037603/wouldyoustop-that-i-wanted-to-draw-a-scene


End file.
